In the Ashes of Another Life
by Aseikh
Summary: (READ AFTER "TO SEE THE STARS." IF YOU HAVEN'T, YOU'LL BE VERY CONFUSED.) After Will wakes up from a nightmare, Horace talks to him until he's comfortable falling back asleep. Short TSTS sequel that takes place a few months after the main storyline.


**(A/N): As the summary says, this is a short story sequel to _To See the Stars_. It's not a full sequel, but you probably won't understand what's going on unless you've read _To See the Stars. _I'm somewhat interested in writing a full sequel to _To See the Stars _but I'm not entirely sure, so we'll have to wait and see. Until then, I hope y'all enjoy this piece.**

* * *

Will jerked up in bed, chest heaving as he gasped for breath.

There were flames around him, smoke choking him and filling his lungs—a hot blade, sliding into his abdomen before he could even react.

Everything was too hot, too dark, too suffocating—he couldn't _breathe, _couldn't manage even a single gasp—

"Will?" a voice said softly, a cold hand going around his elbow, anchoring him to the present.

He was in a dark room, a thick comforter and blanket covering his legs. The comforter was soft, brushing against his bare skin and telling him where he was. The window to his left was propped open, letting in a cool, fall breeze that blew away any whisper of the nightmare. He took a deep breath, filling his chest, letting the cool air fill his lungs and ground him even further in the present.

"Will," the voice said again, this time slightly closer, slightly louder. A second hand came up to cup his cheek and turn his face to the right. "Is everything alright?" Horace whispered, eyes flickering over Will's face, trying to catch his attention but also not shock him if he were still experiencing the nightmare. It had happened before, so he wasn't exactly surprised that it was happening again.

"I …" Will paused, taking in everything around him. He could feel the cold breeze going over his skin, the soft sheets he was sitting on, the warmth of the body laying next to him. "I think so," he said quietly, closing his eyes as he took another breath.

Horace sat up more in his spot, putting a hand on Will's back. He brushed some of Will's hair to the side, clearing his face of stray and tangled hairs. He hadn't cut it since coming back to Araluen, and honestly Horace liked it like that. "Did you want to talk about it?"

Will was silent, not responding to Horace. Slowly, though, he leaned backwards, into Horace's touch and into his embrace. Horace went with it, wrapping his arms around Will's thin shoulders, holding him tightly to remind him where he was and where he wasn't. They both laid back down, Horace's head against the pillow and Will's head resting on his chest. They were both quiet, listening to the other's heartbeat as the night went on.

"So much happened between leaving and returning, Horace," Will said quietly, his voice barely audible in the darkness. "Sometimes all I want to do is forget …" He trailed off, Horace staring at the ceiling while listening to Will. Sometimes all Will needed was someone to listen, and Horace was always willing to fill that role, especially after his role in Will leaving.

"I sense a 'but' coming," Horace murmured back, hoping to elicit some sort of response from Will that didn't sound like he was about to cry.

Instead, he only felt a slight smile against his side with Will using him as a pillow. _"But_ forgetting would take away everything I learned about myself and the world. I didn't just stay in Gallica, you know," he said, wrapping his arms around Horace's waist. "I traveled around a bit before settling. Tried working some other jobs, learned a few languages. Met some interesting characters."

"Where'd you go?" Horace asked, sensing that Will's heartbeat was slowing down and that his Ranger was calming down. He knew Will would eventually fall asleep, but that if he kept talking, it would further distract him.

"Celtica," Will said, "Iberion, Toscano," he continued, "I also went up to Alpina, but didn't stay long. I decided to stay in Gallica because it was just the right amount of lawlessness that I could move in and have a life without having to ask anyone for permission."

Horace snorted, bringing up a hand to brush through Will's hair. "So you only stayed in Gallica because no one was going to ask why you were building a cabin in the middle of nowhere?"

Now Will chuckled, shaking his head. "Well, no, I wasn't originally intending on building a cabin in the middle of nowhere, Horace. I actually took on a few different jobs before I settled down."

"You? Doing something other than hunting? Now that sounds like—"

"They hired me as a bounty hunter," Will said, interrupting Horace. He wiggled out of Horace's grasp, turning in the bed so their chests were together. Will rested his chin on the back of his hands, which were placed just as the base of Horace's throat. Their legs were tangled together, their hips equal to the other. Will looked up to Horace. Horace looked down to Will.

"A … _bounty hunter?" _Horace repeated, not quite believing what Will had just said. "A _bounty hunter_?" Horace said again, looking down at Will and puzzling out his partner's expression to see if he was pulling his leg. "You're not serious, are you?"

A smug grin spread out across Will's face. "You don't believe me?" he asked, incredulous. "They hired two others alongside me. One of them," Will's smile grew, looking sillier than before. "One of them obviously had never held a sword or any type of blade before in their life."

Horace laughed, letting his arms go around Will's waist and tightening his grip around his partner. It wasn't often that Will spoke about what happened to him throughout that decade in which they were separated, mostly because Will saw it as a completely different life. He had left one life to enter another, and now that he was back, he tried as much as he could to keep Gallica and his Ranger years separate. If something came up that dealt with that life, Will tended to grow quiet and moody, and more often than not slept in his own rooms rather than Horace's. The next day, though, Will would be back to himself, if a little shaky and dependent.

Will was still in his transitional period from outcast to Ranger, and it often called on his experiences _from _Gallica due to the skills and knowledge he picked up there. Recently, there'd been news of an uprising against the local lord near the area Will had lived, and he and Duncan had been locked away for a while speaking over what was in the area and if there was any cause for concern. Neither of them were speaking about it, and Will hadn't been speaking to Horace recently. It was only that night that Will had asked to join him, and now he was getting so much more than he ever had about his love's missing decade. It was odd. It was exciting.

"What did you do?" Horace asked, tangling a hand in Will's hair again. Will leaned into the palm, closing his eyes in pleasure for a brief moment like a cat. "Why didn't you stay?"

"Bounty hunters rarely have morals," Will murmured, pulling away from Horace's touch for a moment. He lifted himself, pulled himself up the bed so that his head was just above Horace's, propping himself up with an elbow on either side of the knight's head. He looked his friend and partner in the eyes, a curious look on his face, his hair hanging down around his face and tickling Horace's. Suddenly, Horace knew that, while Will was telling him more than usual, he still wasn't telling the full truth. There would always be something about Gallica that Will kept to himself. "And unfortunately for them, I did."

Horace raised his eyebrows, sensing a story behind that statement. But as he opened his mouth to ask, Will leaned down and kissed Horace deeply, cutting off their conversation. Horace's hands went to Will's hips, smiling into the kiss as it continued. Will pulled away first after a few long moments, tipping his head to the side as he considered Horace's flushed face. Horace took the chance to lift his own head, planting a kiss on Will's forehead. Will smiled. "I think I'm gonna go back to bed," he said quietly, lowering himself to lay at Horace's side, their heads next to each other on the pillows. Will kept his leg around Horace though, as if to claim him as his own.

Nodding, Horace settled back into the bed, recognizing that Will was closing the conversation and to not push it any further.

But as he listened to Will's breathing slow and his heartbeat settle, as he stared at the ceiling, he couldn't help but wonder about what Will had said. What exactly had happened with the bounty hunters? Why hadn't Will stayed with them, and what had caused him to leave?

He figured he wouldn't know anytime soon, and found himself content just to have Will in his arms. He hadn't had that for a decade, and that taught him to appreciate every moment he did get it. Horace closed his eyes, smiling to himself and sensing that this conversation was a step in the right direction for the both of them.


End file.
